The Editor's Outlook. 



"AS THE world progresses, new 



THEN AND /l a,nd more difficult problems 

 present themselves, and a good 

 working knowledge of nature's modes of action be- 

 comes more and more necessary. But no amount 

 of knowledge will ever relieve mankind from the 

 necessity of putting forth effort, which is the 

 greatest factor of growth and development." 

 " Mere physical energy counts for less and practical 

 knowledge for more, now than at any other period 

 of human existence." 



You and I are witnessing a gigantic shifting of 

 scenes in the great drama. We are seeing ignorance, 

 prejudice and bigotry vanishing before education. 

 We are seeing the old farms with their old methods, 

 the old men with their old thoughts, pass away, 

 while newness, thrift and energy come on. There 

 are many of the older ways still among us, but they 

 are now simply picturesque and serve to increase the 

 interest in the shifting picture. The old farming 

 will soon pass into history, and coming generations 

 will wonder at it, as we now wonder at the mon- 

 strosities of the feudal ages. 



Has it never seemed strange to you that men 

 should ever have thought that ignorance is the safe- 

 guard of agriculture ? And yet that day has only 

 now passed into the twilight. Have you never won- 

 dered that men should think that men are the least 

 part of any calling, that brawn and clay and tradi- 

 tion are more potent that brain ? And yet some of 

 those men are still among us. And do you wonder 

 that the farm has not taken its place beside the 

 forum, and that its brightest sons seek law and 

 medicine and politics ? Do you wonder that ambi- 

 tion and inspiration flee from bigotry ? Farmers 

 are fond of telling us that the farm supplies the 

 intellect that moves the world, that it furnishes the 

 cities with its sturdiest men. This is the saddest 

 commentary that can be made upon farming. A 

 calling that gives its best away, that retains the 

 poorest for itself, can never thrive. 



"A horse tied never so closely to a locked 

 granary full of oats will be none the fatter unless 

 his owner have skill enough to pick the lock." We 

 are just now learning this simple lesson, and all the 

 problems of coming ages will grow out of it. Nature 

 has been a sealed book to the farmer, a locked 

 granary. The very forces and conditions with 

 which he has to deal have been hidden from him. 



and it is sad to think that he has tried to hide them 

 from himself. He has repudiated the best thoughts 

 of the best men in his contempt of " book farming." 

 He has loitered by the wayside, and has then com- 

 plained that others have out-travelled him. 



But the reasons for all this are not difficult to 

 find. They are to be sought largely in the condi- 

 tion of human society which has always placed a 

 ban upon labor. They are to be sought, also, in the 

 stifling of the search for truth, and in indifference 

 to it, which, until the present times, in varying 

 degrees, has characterized even the educated masses. 

 We are only now breaking away from tradition into 

 a freer light of investigation, inspiration and hope. 

 And it is not strange that we have never known 

 until now how ignorant we have been. 



" But the end is not yet ; energy in the soil and 

 in the plant, never yet utilized, impatiently awaits 

 discovery and the unfolding of the laws which govern 

 it." Things grow old quickly in this human evolu- 

 tion. The best and most encouraging symptom of 

 our farming is the fact that it is changing as rapidly 

 as other things. The tools, practices, thoughts of 

 yesterday are old to-day. To-morrow our best 

 energies will be outdone. A century hence we will 

 appear in our true perspective, in the first act of 

 groping for the light. All our methods and machinery 

 will have passed away, and heights which we can- 

 not sight will have been left behind. But kindred 

 progress will have taken place elsewhere. Even 

 now the steam engine has passed its zenith. 



Do you sigh that you could not have lived in 

 coming centuries ? Does the thought of the future 

 make you faint-hearted ? Does it lessen your 

 appreciation of your own work ? Do not make so 

 fatal a mistake ! This is a critical time. It is a 

 crisis, and every man's best effort is needed. One's 

 work is measured by his time, and no man's work in 

 coming centuries can be more valuable than yours 

 is now. Our agriculture needs talent, energy and 

 persistence if it is rescued from its present condi- 

 tion. We are glad that we live in this daybreak of 

 progress, that our blood bounds with the enthusi- 

 asm of discovery and anticipation. The wheels 

 will move slower with the approach of noonday. 

 With the greater perfection will come less energy. 

 Ours is the richer inheritance. We have often 

 wished that we might have lived in some of those 

 great old times when the world took on new motives 



